April 13, 2016 | Morning Headlines

Main Story

US Air Strikes Kill Suspected Al Shabaab Militants In Somalia

12 April – Source: Reuters – 138 Words

About a dozen suspected militants from the al Qaeda-linked group Al Shabaab were killed in US airstrikes in southern Somalia on Monday and Tuesday, the Pentagon said. Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis said those targeted posed an “imminent threat to U.S. personnel.” He said the strikes were carried out by unmanned aircraft.

Last month the U.S. military targeted an Al Shabaab training camp in Somalia in an airstrike that the Pentagon says killed more than 150 fighters. The militant group, which seeks to impose a strict version of sharia law, was pushed out of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, by African Union peacekeeping forces in 2011 but has remained a potent force in the country. It has launched frequent attacks aimed at overthrowing the Western-backed government, targeting security and government forces, hotels and restaurants.

Key Headlines

US Air Strikes Kill Suspected Al Shabaab Militants In Somalia (Reuters)
National Leadership Forum Settles Electoral Differences Paving Way For August Polls (Goobjoog News)
Deal With Puntland May Be Debated In Somalia Parliament (Garowe Online)
Somali District Official Escapes Car Bomb Blast (Shabelle News)
AMISOM Condemns Car Bomb Attack In Mogadishu (Shabelle News)
Somali Forces Arrest 15 Al-Shabaab Suspects In Puntland (Xinhua News)
Feds Say Some ISIL Recruit Defendants First Set Sights On Somalia Al-Shabaab (The Star Tribune)
AMISOM Conducts Police Recruitment Exercise In Baidoa (AMISOM)
Somali Refugee Gains Support of Country’s PM in Campaign Against FGM (Voice of America)
The Global Refugee Crisis A Call To Principled Action (Daily Maverick)

NATIONAL MEDIA

National Leadership Forum Settles Electoral Differences Paving Way For August Polls

12 April – Source: Goobjoog News – 494 Words

The National Leadership Forum, which concluded Tuesday in Mogadishu, has agreed on a raft of measures in preparation for the national elections set for July and August this year. Among the agreements, which are subject to parliamentary approval, include the formation of two committees at Federal and State level which will be tasked with overseeing the elections for the Lower and Upper Houses.

The first committee will be the National Level Committee, which will be made up of 17 members, five of which will be appointed by the Federal Government and 11 others by the regional states. The second will be the State Level Committee composed of 11 members; three appointed by the Federal Government and the eight others from the regional governments. It is not however clear if Middle Shabelle and Hiiraan in addition to Banaadir will participate in the selection.

The government had indicated though in the past that Middle Shabelle and Hiiraan will be considered as a full state while Banaadir whose headquarters is Mogadishu will be given special consideration. However the role of the National Independent Electoral Commission has not been captured in the talks despite it being tasked by the constitution as the principal body responsible for organising and conducting elections. A draft document seen by Goobjoog News earlier says the electoral body ‘will have a role on technical issues (ballot paper design/ printing, preparation of voting centres, etc.)’.

The elections for both the Lower and Upper Houses will be conducted in the respective Federal State parliaments, the Forum said in a communiqué Tuesday. The Mogadishu meeting comes after the conclusion of talks between the Federal Government and Puntland in which the latter agreed to the government’s position on the 4.5 clan based electoral formula in the election of the Lower House members.

The meeting which brought together the President, Prime Minister, Speaker of Parliament and all the federal state leaders, except for Somaliland, also resolved that 50 delegates from each sub clan will participate in the election of each Member of Parliament. This will therefore mean a total of 13,750 delegates will participate in the selection of the Lower House members. A total of 135 elders, the same number which participated in the nomination of MPs in 2012, will be tasked with vetting the electoral caucus from every clan. Article 189 of the 2012 Provisional Constitution contemplates the election of the President by a joint sitting of Lower and Upper Houses meaning a total of 329 MPs will elect the next President.

The Lower House is made up of 275 members while the 54 make up the Upper House. The constitutional review conference will be held in Garowe from May 10 to 20 of the same month, the communiqué notes. However the National Consultative Forum, which is made of the President, Prime Minister, Speaker of Parliament and the regional state leader, will meet in advance to iron out key and sensitive articles in the constitution.

Deal With Puntland May Be Debated In Somalia Parliament

12 April – Source: Garowe Online – 196 Words

Somalia’s Federal Government (SFG) President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Federal Parliament Speaker Mohamed Sheikh Osman Jawari may be planning to table the Garowe deal for scrutiny in the National Assembly, a source privy to the matter has divulged to Garowe Online. The report emerges amid political talks that brought together federal government leadership and the presidents of federal member States in Mogadishu.

National consultative forum focuses on modality for 2016 election, National Security Policy (NSP) presented by Deputy Prime Minister Mohamed Omar Arte and constitutional review exercise. Mohamud and Jawari are said to have shared concerns over the influence of federal member states during MPs selection process in respective regional capitals across the country.

“President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s henchmen are worried about whether prospective MPs would vote for them or not in presidential elections, while Jawari has his own obsession with the substantial clout of Southwest State President on Lower House and Upper House,” the source on condition of anonymity.

Earlier this month, Somali Federal Government and Puntland agreed to a poll deal giving oversight power to the presidents of Federal Member States and Interim Regional Administrations. Technical preparations are in top gear for Somalia’s upcoming selection and elections.

Somali District Official Escapes Car Bomb Blast

12 April – Source: Shabelle News – 108 News

The District Commissioner of Balad Hawo Yusuf Mohamed Abdulkadir narrowly escaped an attempt on his life after an explosive device concealed on his vehicle exploded outside his office in the town. Abdulkadir escaped unharmed in the bomb attack , but three of his personal security guards were terribly wounded in the blast, according to an eyewitness who spoke to Radio Shabelle from the scene of the incident.

By the time of going to press, no group had claimed responsibility for the car bomb attack in Balad-Hawo, a town in Gedo region, near Somali border with Kenya. The Al Qaeda-affiliated armed Al Shabaab militants have in the recent past been targeting Somali Government officials in a similar fashion.

AMISOM Condemns Car Bomb Attack In Mogadishu

12 April – Source: Shabelle News – 100 Words

African Union (AU) mission in Somalia (AMISOM) has strongly condemned Monday’s car bomb attack at a local government headquarters in Mogadishu by Al shabaab: “Together, we must weed out these enemies of peace in Somalia,” said AMISOM in statement posted in its official Twitter account. At least five civilians were killed and seven others wounded when a luxury car packed with explosives went off at a busy restaurants near the office of Mogadishu mayor in Hamarweyne district. Al Shabaab claimed responsibility for the deadly bomb attack saying it targeted the office of the city’s newly appointed Mayor Yusuf Hussein Jimala.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Somali Forces Arrest 15 Al-Shabaab Suspects In Puntland

12 April – Source: Xinhua News – 115 Words

Somali security forces arrested 15 suspected members of Islamist group Al-Shabaab in the northern town of Garowe on Tuesday, a police officer has said. Abdiraham Haji Abshir, Police Commander for Garowe, the administrative capital of Puntland state, told reporters the suspects were arrested in their house in a raid following intelligence reports.

“They are being questioned in connection to various terror incidents in the region. We are pursuing others who are still at large,” Abshir said. He said the security forces would launch more operations to flush Al-Shabaab members out of Garowe. At least 70 Al-Shabaab fighters were killed and over 30 others captured in fighting between the group and Puntland state forces in March.

Feds Say Some ISIL Recruit Defendants First Set Sights On Somalia, Al-Shabaab

12 April – Source: The Star Tribune – 603 Words

Federal prosecutors are alleging that at least some of the five Minnesota men awaiting trial on charges of plotting to join ISIL had also shown interest in Al-Shabaab, the terror group based in Somalia. In court filings this week, the prosecutors say they want to show a jury evidence of a thwarted 2012 attempt by one to go to East Africa.

By the time authorities arrested Guled Omar and charged him and five others last April with conspiring to go to Syria to fight for the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the 21-year-old had allegedly already made three failed attempts in three years to fight abroad. Late Monday, prosecutors filed a request to show a jury evidence he first tried to join the nearly two dozen local Somali-Americans who left for Al-Shabaab since the late-2000’s.

According to court documents, Omar helped drive two men to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport in July 2012, knowing that they planned to join Al-Shabab, and planned to follow them to Somalia a month later. His passengers, Mohamed Guled Osman and Omar Ali Farah, have each been charged with providing material support to a foreign terror organization and are considered fugitives.

Prosecutors also say Abdirizak Warsame, who pleaded guilty in February to plotting to support ISIL after being charged late last year, will tell jurors that Osman, also known as Bashi, was an “inspiration to the Syrian travelers” and that Omar and co-defendant Abdirahman Daud pledged allegiance to him, promising to join him in Somalia. Agents stopped Omar in August 2012 as he tried to board a plane for Kenya, from where he allegedly planned to cross into Somalia. Omar told them he was traveling to get married in Africa, according to court documents.

AMISOM Conducts Police Recruitment Exercise In Baidoa

12 April – Source: AMISOM – 375 Words

The Police component of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AUPOL) yesterday commenced the selection of 200 recruits to undergo training ahead of deployment in Bakool region of the Interim South West Administration state. The recruits went through vetting exercise, overseen by a team comprising officials from AMISOM Police, the Interim South West Administration (ISWA) Police and traditional elders.

The process included taking recruits’ photos, fingerprints and other biometric data, as well as medical and physical check-up. The aim of the vetting is to bar infiltration of Al-Shabaab militants into the force. The recruits also underwent literacy tests to determine their fluency in languages. According to the Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) and also the head of recruitment, Saleh Samaila, said the exercise completed the 600 officers target AMISOM Police had pledged to train for the Interim South West Administration (ISWA).

The first 200 police personnel were deployed to the various districts in Bay region and are already serving the community. The second cohort of trained personnel was deployed to Lower Shabelle regions. The final group will be deployed to Bakool region, once they complete the three-month AMISOM police training.

“So far, we have vetted about 199. We are targeting to vet about 250 and select a final 200 for the exercise. This is the third phase of the exercise. We have done phase one in which 200 recruits were trained and deployed. Phase two of the training was completed last month and the officers have been posted to various districts. The one we are currently conducting is phase three comprising 200 recruits making a total of 600,” said CSP Samaila.

The deployment of 600-strong police force of the Interim South West Administration is expected to improve public safety and security in the region. AMISOM is also conducting similar training in Jubbaland. CSP Saleh said the intention of the current recruitment and training was to bring policing closer to the community in Baidoa.

Somali Refugee Gains Support of Country’s PM in Campaign Against FGM

12 April – Source: Voice of America – Video: 2:14 mins

A Somali refugee who fled her nation’s civil war at age 17 is due to return to advise the government on ending the practice of female genital mutilation, or FGM – a cultural or religious practice carried out in large parts of Africa and the Middle East. VOA’s Henry Ridgwell spoke to Ifrah Ahmed ahead of her trip and reports from London.

OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE

“It is states immediately adjacent to conflict that bear the biggest burden: 95 percent of Syria’s refugees are in countries next door. Burundi’s neighbours receive increasing numbers fleeing violence; while Dadaab, in northern Kenya, is cited as the largest refugee camp in the world, hosting nearly 330,000 Somalis”.

The Global Refugee Crisis, A Call To Principled Action

12 April – Source: Daily Maverick – 1,161 Words

By many indicators, deadly conflict is on the rise: the concurrent spike in flight is no coincidence. The Syrian war alone has dislodged twelve million people, raising the global number of refugees and internally displaced to 60-million, the largest figure ever. More than half the world’s approximately 20 million refugees come from just three conflict-ravaged countries – Syria, Afghanistan and Somalia.

Left unaddressed, this crisis threatens worse. For frontline states such as Lebanon and Jordan, Turkey and Greece, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Tanzania, the economic, social, human rights, political and security implications of rapid, massive influxes of people are overwhelming. The failure to address the situation risks further conflict, triggering further refugee flows. The cost to future generations is no less alarming; among all child refugees globally some 50 per cent receive no schooling.

Importantly, this crisis is neither uniquely nor even predominantly European. It is states immediately adjacent to conflict that bear the biggest burden: 95 percent of Syria’s refugees are in countries next door. Burundi’s neighbours receive increasing numbers fleeing violence; while Dadaab, in northern Kenya, is cited as the largest refugee camp in the world, hosting nearly 330,000 Somalis. Organised crime and the absence of state protection in Central America’s Northern Triangle trigger large-scale flight. Overall, about 86 percent of the global total of displaced, including refugees, are in developing countries.

In recognising that it is largely Europe’s angst which has generated such focus on the plight of refugees, Crisis Group notes that uncomfortable questions will and should be asked about the continent’s apparent exceptionalism. Countries as far apart as Kenya, Pakistan, Chad, Thailand, Tanzania, Jordan and Ethiopia have hosted refugees on a massive scale for years, often with scant attention paid to the burdens this places on them.

Those valid questions notwithstanding, there are particular reasons for focusing on Europe: that it is a target destination for many; its developmental and humanitarian capacity; its real and aspirational foreign policy ambitions; and its central role in the elaboration of humanitarian norms. Further, left unresolved, this crisis threatens the continued viability of the Union, arguably the most successful inter-state peace project of the last century.